


Warm Me Up (To You)

by Signalius (Twiranux)



Series: Scandent Emotions [1]
Category: Vinesauce (Video Blogging RPF)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Idiots in Love, Joel is a Tsundere, M/M, Passive-aggression, Platonic Cuddling, Sharing a Bed, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:12:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22400851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twiranux/pseuds/Signalius
Summary: "Alright, you have a good beddy-bye sleepy time, okay, Vinny?""Yeah, of course..." Vinny trails off, pausing for dramatic effect. Joel nods, and heads into his bedroom, closing the door behind him. "...not."
Relationships: Joel Varg Johansson/Vinny
Series: Scandent Emotions [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1612537
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	Warm Me Up (To You)

Joel taps his foot to relieve his nerves a bit, wound up from not knowing how to really greet his friend. This particular trip from New York to Sweden finally became a reality—after months of preparing what to take and negotiating with time itself—which surprisingly worked out in their favor, as the weather did not punish with delays or cancellations of any kind.

"Hey...wow." Vin let out a sigh of relief, appeased with his person back on the firm Earth after a long day of travel.

"W-what is it? Something wrong?" Worried, Joel looks around frantically.

"Nah, it's fine, just a little fucked up from the travel. But, uh, thanks again for taking the time to pick me up." Vinny brushes the thought away, perhaps to bring it up at a more appropriate and less public environment.

"Alright then, let's go, let me handle your shit there." Rolling the luggage around, Joel leads Vinny out of the airport, and toward the parking garage.

* * *

“Here, look. I already scrambled around my house and shit to get it all nice and comfy for ya.” The Swede chuckles at the sight of his ‘prettied up’ couch: 4 identical grey couch cushions, and 2 linen sheets: 1 in monochrome plaid and the other plain black.

“Well, thanks?” Vinny snickers at Joel’s passive-aggressiveness, finding strange comfort within the level of charm inherently woven in his tone of voice.

“Yeah, picked these bad boys out just for you.” Scratching at his beard, he allows himself to let loose and give a grin.

Vinny smiles in return, and gives Joel a pat on the shoulder.

"Love ya, bud. I can't thank you enough. This saves me the hassle but I'm sure I'm just redirecting it to you."

"Ah, it's nothing. I'm more than capable of being domestic than people give me credit for." Joel crosses his arms, assured by the compliments. "If you need anything else, fuck you. You live alone like I do, don't you? Back in New York, yeah? But uh, seriously..."

Joel then explains the three doors by the small hallway leading from the living room: bathroom on the left, storage not to be fucked with directly ahead, and Joel's bedroom on the right. After that, he turns off all of the lights in the living room and kitchen with the exception of one small lamp mainly used to navigate the apartment in the middle of the night.

"Alright, you have a good beddy-bye sleepy time, okay, Vinny?"

"Yeah, of course..." Vinny trails off, pausing for dramatic effect. Joel nods, and heads into his bedroom, closing the door behind him. "...not."

After a long while of tossing and turning later, Vin decides to give up. No amount of fluffing up the assorted sheets or the throw pillows could turn the makeshift mess into something comfortable enough.

He decides to walk over to the small hallway, stopping for a moment to remember which door is which, before knocking on Joel’s bedroom door. There are sounds of cloth being tossed about, followed by a set of heavy footsteps drawing near. The door opens very slightly, accompanied by a long, low groan escaping Joel’s lips.

"It's really fucking cold and uncomfortable out here in the living room, on your couch. Can I sleep on your bed?” Vinny’s words form much quicker than his mind could make sense of it all; he was still somewhat lost amidst all the haze of traveling and jet lag.

"I-I mean...why? But...fine, okay." Joel lets out a defeated sigh. "But I don't want you getting any ideas! This is strictly because I don't wanna wake up finding your frozen corpse in the morning."

“What's the big deal of me sleeping next to you anyways? We both have nothing to hide." Vin smirks somewhat, knowing fully well of his own intentions.

Joel opens the bedroom door further out as Vinny shuffles his way into the warmth; Joel fixates on dividing his already small bed into two equal parts by using a singular pillow.

Mumbling to himself, Joel practically throws himself onto the left side of the bed. He then forces his eyes to shut, wishing to fall asleep as quickly as possible before his emotions get to him.

"There, all good. God, just imagine if either of our chats were to see this…" 

Silence dominates the room for a while, only interrupted by the rustling of the bedsheets and pillows. Vinny settles into the rather firm bed, laying still physically yet restless mentally. The groggy feeling from the flight was still there in his head—the slight queasiness, as well as numbness of sitting in an airplane for a number of hours—preventing his body and mind from completely relaxing. Vin clutches the blankets, pulling them closer against his upper torso. Upon closer inspection, the pattern on the blanket is a repeating set of skulls and bones. Typical of Joel to have bought something so skeletal for himself.

"Of course it's a skeleton pattern," Vinny thinks aloud, enough for Joel to have heard.

"Hey, shut up...I'm trying to sleep here," Joel mutters, feigning a tired voice.

"Oh, sorry...I'm a terrible sleeper in general. And still a little cold, actually." Vinny admits, turning his body towards Joel; he sneers at the pillow barricade between them. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, Vinny felt a tad disappointed regarding Joel's hesitation to be more casual and open around him.

"Well, then, you can blame Sweden for being so goddamn wintry."

Joel had no problem with the cool atmosphere that settled within his apartment; many years of tolerating such temperature made him indifferent to Vinny's plight. However, his heart sinks a bit, conflicting with his previous thought. A pang of guilt permeates his being, turning his head towards the pillow of separation.

“Joel?”

“W-what?” Joel is reeled back into reality, his usual abrasive nature taking a back seat.

“Mind if I just...I don’t know, try snuggling a little bit closer?” Vinny’s breathing becomes uneven; a distinct, paralyzing blankness begins to devour his senses—as anxiety begins to creep into his consciousness—the air feeling colder than before. He extends his hand out and pulls the pillow out of the way, meeting eye to eye with Joel. Something within Vinny then began to swirl and tug, his capacity for internalizing emotion reaching its limit.

In juxtaposition, Joel’s thoughts refused to organize itself in any sort of constructive way. One part of him was practically screaming about taking the plunge and letting himself fall apart, while another chewed on the infinite consequences of becoming _that_ vulnerable—to Vinny of all people. 

Joel opens his mouth to speak, yet nothing but constricted high-pitched sounds came out. His face and body began to radiate heat, yet helplessly pulling himself a couple of inches closer to Vinny.

Vinny, in return, couldn't help but giggle at the blubbering mess he's made out of Joel. Scooting closer, he practically closes the gap between the two of them, their pajama clothes barely touching, and Vinny's hands hovering awkwardly near and above the Swede—not knowing where to rest them—their personal spaces now unclear. Instead of adding more fuel to the fire, Vin tucks his arm close to his side.

"Hey, hey hey hey, you watch yourself now!" Joel snaps suddenly, blurting out a slew of flustered sounds, becoming rather aware of his reddening face. He can barely look Vinny straight on, his eyes darting around, anywhere he can manage to other than those green eyes so familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time.

"Wait, what?" A chuckle interrupts Vinny's voice. Seeing Joel move in such a manner temporarily eased his tension, so far as to subconsciously smile at the sight. “Are you alright?”

“Are you?! What the hell, Vinny?” Joel’s inner self found itself in another schism, ending up as a confusing tone of frustration and awkwardness; he could hear his mind internally scream and freak out.

"Sorry, sorry. If you have such a problem, I can—"

" _Nej_! Just, uh-u-uh...here!" Joel growls, facial features bunching up from the visceral uncertainty—getting ever more frustrated with himself. Usually he could vent by violently thrashing about on his bed, but obviously not this time. Joel taps on his upper torso with his right hand, gesturing Vinny to rest his head there. "Before I change my mind, dammit."

Without much more thought, Vinny makes one big motion to settle himself comfortably on Joel's chest. His heart rate increases, like it could puncture right through his muscle and flesh. Yet, for the first time in a long while, Vinny felt soothed to be resting.

Joel hums contently, his exhausting mind finally quieting down a bit. He curses under his breath for making such a big deal over practically nothing, but quickly forgets the hurdle when he feels Vin slowly nuzzling him. Their combined body heat made for a nice, cozy feeling. Joel begins to rest when he feels yet another moment of guilt, or rather, a feeling of incompletion. Using his right hand, Joel lifts Vinny's compressed arm and lays it comfortably across his upper abdomen.

"Aww. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to," Vinny remarks, partially muffled. Rather than pulling away, he embraces a little more confidently. Vinny couldn't bare show his blushing cheeks, so he determined to express through physical intimacy.

"Eh...love you too, buddy…Ah!" Joel catches himself, stammering despite his response being a mere joke. _"Nej, nej, nej, nej, nej_ …never mention any of this ever again, alright?"

"I know one way we could seal the deal." Joel's eyes widen as he hears exaggerated kissing noises from Vin.

"Nuh-uh. I'm gonna fucking punch your lights out so you can have eternal rest, how's that for a deal?"

"Now _that's_ my Joel."  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Nej means no in Swedish :^)
> 
> To my regular readers who might be asking "oh, why under a psued?": This psued is like a personal testing ground, preferably a seperate area to compile other fandoms/ships. I might end up just absorbing these into my main, Twiranux, but for now this is how it's gonna be.


End file.
